Friday, February 10, 2012

KSA Israel: Haifa

Today we spent most of the day in Haifa. We met the kids this morning and it was so great to see smiling, tired faces who had a wonderful night with their host families and the amazing amount of food that each host packed for our kids' lunches--like every other day, everyone was well satiated--one student even had six sandwiches, so that he could eat throughout the day!

After meeting everyone, we took a tour of Haifa, stopping at several points for beautiful views of the Mediterranean Sea. We also stopped at the Cave of Eliyahu, one of the religious spots of Haifa. As we are in the winter season here in Israel, we were darting in and out of raindrops, but our hosts assured us that the rain is over and that we will have a beautiful Shabbat. Our last stop of the morning was a visit to the Technion where we heard a lecture from a member of the Rambam Medical Center faculty about stem cell research and heart muscle regeneration processes that are being studied there. This was a key part of the research that the 8th graders are doing for their science fair projects this year.

We stopped for lunch at a gorgeous seaside park, where we ate, the kids played games and we took in a close up of the waves crashing against the shore. The warm weather (by Boston standards) was a real treat for everyone.

We are now at Nachsholim, just prior to when we will gather with our friends, who are no longer new, and welcome Shabbat together. We came to Israel ten days ago as a group of 8th graders and their teachers; we are now spending Shabbat as a close-knit community that has grown in depth and one in which many friendships have started and many others have blossomed.